


Using Your Words

by zjass06



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Awkward Will, Awkwardness, Confessions, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Pining, Prepare for embarrassment, Will Solace is an utter mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 09:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20225908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zjass06/pseuds/zjass06
Summary: Will’s always been a people’s person, at least, he thought he was before Lithe And Gorgeous came around.Basically, Will finds himself in a lot of awkward situations with the one and only Nico Di Angelo.





	Using Your Words

The first time Will Solace ever strikes conversation with him is entirely thanks to clumsy coincidence and his own stupidity. It falls into place on the last day of his junior year, a day of which the summer sun beyond those school doors beckons every student out off that hell hole for a good ten weeks. The much anticipated shrill of the final bell triggers mayhem, and yes, Will's sure as hell relieved that this year is finally over but he, personally, didn't understand the need to suddenly turn insane.

However, most students clearly think there is all the need in the world because those hallways are, quite simply, insane. Utterly insane. Now Will's not exactly a killjoy and he can take pleasure in a good party or two, but _this_ is just over the top. He's barely even made it out of the classroom without being toppled over like a bowling pin, but the sudden rush in the class is nothing in comparison to the hallway. 

It's a savage tsunami of students all swarming simultaneously in one direction. Now, if Will needed to go that direction, perhaps it wouldn't of been _that_ bad trying to swim through it all. It's just that, due to his own idiocy, he's left all his stuff in his locker telling himself he'd simply collect it at the end of the day. How foolish he'd been.

His locker's located on the west wing of the school. Everyone else is trying to spill out of the east entrance. Aka, he's going to have to go through hell and back just so he can grab his bag... which has his car keys in them.

Will doesn't even think about it, he just takes a deep breath and dives in, and, yeah, it's hell. His much prided patience slips by the second as each shoulder pushes him to and fro. He cringes at something slimey he feels squelch under his shoe, not mustering up the courage to look just yet. Somehow, someone's managed to sneak a massive beach ball into the high school — that in no way fits in any locker — and Will finds himself quite grumpy as it pathetically bounces of his head. Despite going against the currents, Will tries to avoid any eye contact with the everyone, especially those who curse at him for getting in their way and the couple that are somehow making out peacefully in the midst of all the chaos. The blond doubts that any staff are going to intervene any time soon seeming as there's practically nothing they can do to tame them and-- _is that..? Yep, that's a guy crowd surfing. _

The blond's only got so much determination and, eventually, he reaches his tipping point when a random guy with bloodshot eyes and questionable, smoky breath seizes his shoulders, squeezing and shaking him as he exclaims, "It's summer, bro!" in his face. Instantaneously, Will pushes him off, and the stoner is carried away with the crowd, whooping alongside them.

After that, Will can't take it, and when he's (painfully) nudged into a handle of the a closed door; the blond doesn't even think twice before he slips in.

As he swiftly shuts the door behind him, he's met with darkness and the stark scent of Windex. 

Also, he's met with a short, brick wall that topples over in an "oof" as Will slams into it.

Actually, wait no. It's a _him_.

There's the sound of tumbling bottles and a good few smacks against wood before an adequate, "Fuck," is sounded. And then, in a panic, Will's hand takes an urgent purchase against the wall as if feels around for a switch. When he finds it, he subconsciously prays it's a light switch when he flicks it. Thankfully, a dim bulb ignites above their heads as a result.

What his eye first catches in the very small space he's found himself in with this other guy is the distinct, pungent puddle of bleach on the floor. His gaze follows the droplets and it doesn't pour out of a tilted bottle like Will expects.

Instead, it leaks out of the cotton of a jacket. A, what was previously, a black jacket. Now with a very big and very distinct splotch of stained white.

"Holy _shit_, I'm so sorry," Will finds himself gushing out frantically, "I'm so damn sorr--_y_."

He's not entirely aware that he's making a fool of himself with the unnecessarily long "ee" sound on "sorry," well, not immediately at least. All he's suddenly smitten by is a passive face with high cheekbones and a contained scowl.

"It's alright I guess," the guy ensures, but there's not a lot of conviction, "It's just... bleach." With that, the guy shrugs off his jacket, not paying much attention to Will's static silence or startled stare as he reveals lithe and gorgeous arms.

Will snaps his mouth shut as soon as he realises it's gaping wide -- and that's only because he feels it going a tad bit too dry. "I'm sorry," he tries again, uncharacteristically quiet and shy, as if the phrase was the only two words he's ever learnt in his life.

There's a mild cringe on his own face as his glimpse down to meet Lithe And Gorgeous's most likely enraged expression, but he's a little shocked when he finds dark, knitted eyebrows instead, his thin lips a line with _just_ about a bemused curve edged into one of the corners.

"Seriously, it's okay. It's not my good jacket and it's pretty hot outside anyways."

For some absurd reason, there's only one word that the blond seems to latch upon: "Hot," Will says as plain as day. "Hot. Yeah... very hot— really _damn_ hot. I mean, in here— no! Outside. Not you, I'm not talking about you. Not that you're not hot or anything! It's just— I... uh..."

There hasn't ever been a time in his life when Will's felt like this, like his pulse is skyrocketing so much so that he can't really hear any over the blood rushing through his head. Never has there ever been a situation where Will can't comprehend anything other cheekbones, cheekbones, _those god damn cheekbones and beautiful eyes._ He's never been so dumbstruck that he can't even formulate normal, English sentences. _Especially_ not by another person.

From the way Lithe And Gorgeous is pursing his lips in order to restrain a laugh to the way his dark irises look softly up at him like feeling sympathetic for a loon, Will rakes a rushed hand through his blond curls. He calculates there's no way to make himself more of a fool of himself than he already has, so, _completely_ _rationally_, he throws open the janitor's door and this time _tries_ to drown himself in the onslaught of students.

When he does eventually arrive at his locker, he slams his head against the metal when he comes to the exasperating realisation that his keys were in his pocket the whole time.

~*~

The second time Will finds himself entangled with Lithe And Gorgeous, he's still not yet completely over their first interaction.

Since, yes, he does come to think of him occasionally, popping into his mind every now and then. Still, he blushes even at the thought of that degrading... _conversation_. However, generally speaking, he's pretty much over it. Sure, shoving an attractive guy against a bunch of cleaning solutions and shelves _then_ bleaching his jacket white and _then_ rambling on and on about something 'hot' is rather the most embarrassing moment Will's ever encountered but it's not like it bothers him... everyday... for the last month...

"Hey, can I order?"

_Oh yeah,_ Will thinks blandly, _I'm at work and acting like a blushing, teenage girl pining after a guy I'll probably never see again. _His entire stance is lax and lazy, leaning against the cashier machine like it's some sort of pillow. It's weird, because he's never usually this off guard, and despite how much he internally hates his summer time job at the coffee shop, Will's never been the type to be slacking.

Brushing it off as it being _just one of those days_, he let's a forced smile paint his distant expression as he looks up at the customer--

"--Ah!" Will exclaims before he has the chance to seal his lips shut for the rest of eternity. Instantaneously, he pushes himself up straight in a last ditch attempt to make himself somewhat presentable. Unfortunately, his hands press jerkily against the keys on the cashier machine, and with a ringing 'ching' the cash register shoots out with a brutal force, smacking dead against his gut.

"Are you okay?!" asks Lithe And Gorgeous, evidently alarmed.

"Yep," Will wheezes, wavering his hand dismissively, "Hell, who knew this thing had such a punch, huh?"

Lithe And Gorgeous looks a little bit concerned, but still chuckles hesitantly, "Are you sure?"

"_Mhmm_!" the blond hums tightly, recovering from the air knocked out of him, "Anyways, what can I get for you?" Will figures if he just plays it nonchalant, maybe they can pretend like that whole thing didn't just happen.

The raven haired boy scans him for a few extra seconds probably just to make sure he's okay. "Tall mocha frappucinno, with cream," he says, and it's dumb but he's a little bit shocked at his order. For some reason, he expected him to be a 'black coffee bitter like my soul' kind of guy, but whatever, it only makes him more attractive.

When he extends a pale hand to hand over a five dollar bill, Will doesn't accept it. "On the house," he says, "To make up for your jacket."

Lithe And Gorgeous smiles sheepishly and then there's butterflies bursting warmly in his stomach.

"So you still remember that? I wasn't gonna mention it for your sake," he teases, it makes Will blush a little bit but he hopes it's not entirely noticeable.

"How could I forget?" Will mumbles but it's barely bitter, subconsciously muttering the order as he inputs it into the screen.

"Are you even allowed to do that?"

The blond shrugs in response, "Probably not."

There's a disbelieving relief flooding through him as he types in his name for the order, though his pulse is still sky rocketing he's glad that he can still have at least a little, sane conversation with the guy.

Once he's done, he looks up with what he hopes is a charming smile, "That's all in for you."

"Thanks, Solace," he replies, strolling off, hands pocketed to lean against a wall while he waits for his drink.

Will can't shake the feeling of something being glaring wrong. Something pretty damn bad. It's probably just the presence of the guy though, maybe he shouldn’t of given him that free drink. But he chooses to ignore it, turning around to make use of his time and wash one of the blenders before he's asked to later.

But still, it bugs him like a wasp he tries to swat away that just keeps returning to pester. 

It's only when he huffs and takes an absentminded glance at a cup that one of the baristas are holding that he realises. Horror through his veins, his blood turns to ice. Immediately, he bursts through the 'staff only' doors to save himself from the crashing reality of it all, but he still doesn't miss that fucking announcement.

"Tall mocha frappucinno, with cream for... Lithe And Gorgeous?"

Will groans as he buries his face in his hands, scandalised, taking refuge in the wash room for the next 30 minutes.

~*~

The third time Will talks to him, he's not too sure whether it's a blessing or a curse.

_Nico Di Angelo_, Will corrects himself, remembering the valuable information Lou Ellen had told him as she caught him eyeing the Italian across the hall. It was also then that he had told Lou Ellen about his two mortifying encounters with _Lithe And Gorgeous_, he not too sure why he did though, it's not like her hysterically laughing at him for a good seven minutes was an unexpected response.

The summer is over, and though it was mostly uneventful Will still has no desire whatsoever to be back in school -- especially because he doesn't really want to risk another run in with Nico. However, his only optimistic thought comes from the fact that he's a senior now, and he only has to endure one most god forsaken year before he's over Goode and can finally get over Nico.

Since, admittedly, he knows there's no chance he'll get other his if he's still manages to catch glimpses of him every so often. It's just the sad, sad truth.

But all of that doesn't mean Will's not going to take advantage of the things he can actually get during his last year. He practically abuses the library privileges given to the students, spending quite a bit of his spare time there to mostly study. Then there's also the gym, and despite being a little (quite a bit) nerdy Will still finds that a good run always helps to clear his head a little bit.

The gym's always free after school hours, and most of the time there's nobody there since either the others spend a lot of their time outside running the track or doing field sports. Will wouldn't mind running the track either, but he just prefers staying indoors, on a treadmill, isolated with his earphones. He finds it bizarrely relaxing. In a rare state of tranquility with no worries infiltrating his mind like exam stress or future colleges. Hell, not even Nico can make it into his head space while he's running.

After a good hour's run, Will gets back to the changing room feeling pretty contempt. He's smiling at nothing in particular as he opens his locker door -- he's even humming himself a jolly tune.

Though he knows he's sweaty, he just pulls out a fresh shirt to change, figuring that it would just be easier to just shower at home. Besides, as Will walked past one of the cubicles, he noticed one of them was occupied and really wasn't going to take any chance with awkward encounters.

He's just about tugged the new shirt over his head when he hears the patter of water from the shower stall cease. Will instinctively speeds up, shoving his clothes into his bag lacking much care or thought. Because look, Will's a good guy, he doesn't want to particularly boost his gay advantages by running into guy who's probably got nothing on besides a towel.

However, the gods have either sent a blessing or a curse hurling at him, since the guy who walks in isn't just any guy. It's _him_. Because _of fucking course it is._

Nico halts in his steps when he probably realises the changing room's not empty, taking a long glance at Will. He just smirks, fucking smirks, not that cute little smile, this one is coy and — dare he god damn say — flirtatious. Teasing, obviously, but it has the same effect regardless.

"Hey, Solace," he greets casually, roaming towards his locker as if he doesn't know exactly what he's doing to Will's heart.

Will swears, scout's honour, that he tries to avoid checking Nico out as best as he can. But it's basically impossible to not notice him, especially with his sinful towel hanging low on his waist, exposing such long legs and a built yet lean torso and, yeah, the name 'Lithe And Gorgeous' just got a whole new definition. There's still rivulets of water racing down his shoulder blades, dripping down from that long, mussed, soaking, inky hair of his. Usually, Nico's hair is pulled back into a tie at the base of skull, but now it's out and loose and Will fingers really itch to run through those silky stands.

When Nico throws a knowing look over his shoulder, Will can't fight the flush off his cheeks. It's infuriating, he's never had an issue with blushing, but suddenly Nico's thrown into the picture and Will's always scarlet in his presence. Why is it that this one guy, one who he barely even knows, has such a massive impact on him?

"See something you like, Solace?"

_What the fuck... what the actual flying fuck?_

_Flirting?!_

Will downright refuses to let it get the best of him, he's not going to be tormented by this blissful nightmare anymore. He searches his brain for anything -- _anything at all_ \-- that could make him sound like an actual, functioning human being.

"How do you know my name?" Will ends up asking, and now Will's fighting an all new itch in his finger to not grab the pen in his bag and jam it into his palm.

But, then, the impossible happens. It's like the universe folds in on itself. All the stars colliding and galaxies combining into one matter.

Because, unless Will's eyes deceive him, there's a crimson blush spilling over Nico's gorgeous cheekbones.

It's a simple, human reaction. Not particularly difficult to extract from someone. Realistically, it's not that big of a deal, but to Will, it feel like the greatest fucking victory of his life.

But then, like always, he blows it. This time, it all goes south when he thrusts his arms in the air in a reflexive, celebratory manner, whooping a "Fuck yes!" at the win. Not realising his stupidity until a bit of his excitement's worn off after a few seconds and Nico stares back at him with the most wry,snark and smug expression he's seen in his life. Will despises how good it looks on him.

"Oh, fuck off," Will sighs, grabbing his bag as he walks out of the changing rooms, yet again, leaving with embarrassed dismay from Nico Di Angelo.

~*~

Will's given up.

He accepted his fate now, there's no way he can't make a fool of himself while speaking to Nico Di Angelo.

And it fucking sucks.

So many god damn occasions throughout this year, and not one has he managed to act normal in his presence. All he turns into is this blond, blithering mess with a stupid, skyrocketing pulse that can't seem to control himself around that god forsaken Italian. It sure as hell feels like a curse, and there's probably some higher power up there somewhere, laughing it off at Will's pathetic suffering.

Avoiding him was (and still is) an impossible feat. It comes more closer to clearer as to why as the days roll by so fast that they all seem to bleed into one.

When he told Lou Ellen that the reason he's always to out of it around Nico is because he loved him, Will expected her to laugh just like she always does. Instead, she didn't say anything. Her leafy eyes clearly waiting for a more elaborate explanation, as if him being in love with Nico Di Angelo was the most obvious thing in the world!

It's a shame that he only finds out so close to the end of the year, only two weeks until they all break up into the next stages of their newly adult life. Will's always felt like he's been ready for that moment for years, to get this whole high school phase over with so he can just move on. However, it's only now he realises that he not actually, completely, ready.

He's missing something.

He knows exactly what he's missing.

He's not going to move on until he's at least tries to get what he's been missing.

It's why there's a slight tremble in his hand, clutching the folded paper delicately like it's made of the most fragile glass. He's nervous, undoubtedly, but he supposes that even if this whole thing was to go wrong, then it could still be fine. Okay. Because if it does goes wrong, not even his fate would grant them the chance of seeing each other ever again.

Will has nothing to lose but everything to gain. Will wants to take that chance.

Perhaps the two coffees this morning (and the extra one at lunch) was a bad choice, he feels jittery and anxious but no less determined. As the final bell of the day shrills through the school, Will rushes out of his seat, practically stopping himself from running down the hallways before this adrenaline encouraging him gets used up.

Naturally, because it's Will's fate, he topples into Nico. However, this time, he's also just as quick as catching him before he hits the ground, pulling him back onto his feet with an internal _phew_.

"Thanks," Nico says, but Will's not too sure why because he was the one knocking him over after all. "No bleach this time."

It's a tease, not a mocking one, though. It's almost as if it were a fond memory.

Before Will can replying with anything utterly stupid, he promptly thrusts the piece of paper from his hand into Nico's unsuspecting grip.

In anticipated response #12, the Italian looks up at him with confused eyes and furrowed brows. Will's pulse is skyrocketing again, and, at this point, he doubts it ever won't whenever he's around Nico. Only now does he realise that it's not necessarily a bad thing. It makes Nico stand out even more than his beauty already allows him too.

"Will..." Nico starts cautiously, a glint in his eyes that set Will's nerves on fire, "What's this about?"

Will takes a deep breath, _it's now or never._

"Look, as you probably realised, I'm really bad at words around you. Like, fuck, you don't know how nervous you've made me all year.And then, I realised why, and I knew I had to tell you but I also knew I'd mess it up somehow. So... I wrote it down for you... that way, I can't completely ruin it..."

Nico gazes up at him softly, but there's that trace of guarded apprehension within his eyes and it sets the blond's nerves ablaze.

Slowly, so damn painfully slowly, he begins to unfold the neatly folded paper. With each fold, Will feels his heart threaten to beat out of his ribs harder and harder, watching Nico's long, slightly shaky fingers like a hawk.

The scariest moment is when he reveals the message, and Nico reads it and just _stares_ at it. Will feels like he's going to faint, with that look of incredulous he just knows the Italian's going to burst out in laughter, wiping tears out of his eyes as he wheezes: 'Good one, Solace.'

_This was such a fucking stupid idea you fucking moron, obviously Nico won't like it._

But then, miraculously, a splitting smile spills across his face, genuine and stunning. Nico looks upon him with overflowing glee in his stare, a couple of breathy chuckles let loose before he rings his hand around Will's neck and pulls him down.

"You're not bad at words, you dork," Nico breathes across his lips, "You've managed to hook me from day one."

And in spite of all the dumbstruck encounters and hesitant responses throughout the entirety of the year, Will melts into the kiss like it's second nature, even if he's grinning too much to kiss him back properly.

At that, the piece of paper held between Nico's fingers cascades gracefully to the ground, landing gently and face up. Message revealed.

**I like you a lot, Nico**

**\-- Solace**


End file.
